The Fun of Sea of Thieves

@dhg-ixxrmacxxi
Very eloquent post Rmac, & it really does bring to light what a lot of the new influx of players are missing.

@dhg-ixxrmacxxi this is the best post I've seen on this forum since i joined after E3 last year. This is why i want the game. I don't want it for some story or final boss battle or even to collect things in game. I want it for to play with my friends and not have to do anything. I missed the last 3 months of tech alpha sessions due to not having time. The first thing i did when i logged into the beta was sit. I sat for 2 hours on the outpost and just listened. Listened to the waves, the wind, the thunder and lightning as the storm came over the outpost. I just sat there thinking how good it felt to be back and how amazing Rare did with the sounds for the game. I also watched some streamers i follow from a different game play for the first time and just have fun and get drunk and play for 12 hours. This is a game that I'll always come back to with my friends. I love the feeling of sailing the ships Rare has made and i hope that this game doesn't just turn into a grief game or turn around and be called a dead game 2 months after release. Rare has worked to hard for that to happen. Also @dhg-ixxrmacxxi if i ever got the chance to sail with you I'd be honored.

@dhg-ixxrmacxxi Well as much as I love the game(a lot), sandboxes or simulators just aren't worth 60€. Yeah it's fun, yeah I'll have a laugh but not for 60€. At this point I'd pay no more than 30€ for it and even that is because I love it, I can totally see why peeps are a little dissapointed. AAA games aren't meant to be sandboxes but should be full of 100s of hours of content and playtime.
I love the game, I've made many friends but that doesn't change the fact that they need to add atleast twice as much content or SoT will be another No Man's Sky or Call of Duty.

@lizalaroo It's not the matter of me wanting to buy it or not tho. It's the matter of me not wanting to see another great potential go straight into the garbage bin.

Well said @dhg-ixxrmacxxi ! You sum up the exact experience and fun I get out of SoT. Though I haven't had the chance to sail with you yet mate, knowing we both view the game the same way let's me know it'd be a blast.
For me, it's not about content or quests or achievements... It's the adventure I'm after, and sharing that with my crew!
It's about doing everything that everyone wants to do or try that day, it's about the fun!

I hope those that l**t after spoon fed content read your post and can breath it in, like you said, the content is the adventure shared with friends.

Great post Rmac, and if you want to, add my gamertag, I'd like for a lot of us ol'salty CREWmunity members to always sail together!
I'm dying to catch many of you guys online sometime, we've read each other's words in the forum for so long it feels like a friendship now.

@dhg-ixxrmacxxi Part of this games draw is the adventures you have. But you have to know that a video game cannot only be about the adventure. Using your own analogy, you drive somewhere to be rewarded by the destination. Either you're traveling there for the view, or you're traveling there for an activity. There's a reward waiting for you at end. And yes, some people do just travel for the hell of it, but they still achieve rewards by exploring new places and experiencing new things. You are being rewarded by gaining something of value to you personally.

SoT, you gain nothing of personal worth to your character. There has to be more to a video game than just a feeling, that is the point I am trying to make. Sure, the feeling is great! I can respect that, but we're not talking about real life here. We are all playing a video game, lets keep that in mind. And we all play a video game to escape and become something new. And you currently cannot become something in Sea of Thieves because there is no sense of ownership or value. Your character isn't your own, your ship isn't yours, your rewards are not important, and your left with nothing but the adventure you've had.

Sure, I have had a blast with friends in this game, I don't think that needs to go unnoticed and is certainly part of the puzzle to making a successful game. But does that mean I am satisfied with the game in its current form? Nope, not at all. There is more to a puzzle than just 1 piece, it all has to come together at some point.

@dhg-ixxrmacxxi Aye Aye mate i will

@bloodshotbeast I am playing a game to earn meaningful rewards and play with my friends? I fail to see why its so bad to ask for both? Most games you can have both, why should this game be given the exception to this?

@bloodshotbeast I have yet to see ship customization, fishing or mini-games, world bosses/raids, any forms of ship ownership, nor ship diversity (unless they really call the 2 ships in the game a "variety a of ships."), I have yet to see any crew/party management system in-game, or any additional melee weapons varieties. All of these things, and more, are what Rare has hinted at for years, but I have not seen any of it in the game, nor do I know if its still even planned for the games final release.

@ethnine said in The Fun of Sea of Thieves:

I am playing a game to earn meaningful rewards

Really, no reward in a game is more or less meaningful than another. A sword that gave you the ability to drop the anchor on any ship you could see is no more meaningful than a pair of in-game socks that have a kitty skull & crossbones. You assign the meaning.
I understand that there are things you think that should be in game that arte not in the game. That's totally fine. That's why we are testing, and providing feedback. But at the end of the day the game you want to play may not be the game that they are making. So, you have to decide if you like the game they are making enough to buy it and play it, or if you don't. No one can make that decision for you.
All I know is that I agreed with everything that @DHG-IXxRMACxXI said. For me, right now, the game is worth buying. Do I want more stuff in it? Of course. Do I need it to fill your definition of "meaningful"? No, that is not something I need. If there is a hard to get hat in the world that I like, it is meaningful solely because I want it. I play games for my enjoyment, and I really really enjoy this game. I've made new friends. I've reconnected with old friends. I've won and I've lost and I've had narrow escapes and I've almost gotten away. I've been sunk, got on board the attacking ship, and instead of fighting spent the next half hour laughing with them about how the battle went. But the biggest thing is that even after playing well over 100 hours in the last six months I still can't wait until I get to play it again. And they haven't even added all of the "content" yet.
In the end, it may not be enough for you. But it is enough for a lot of other people.

@erikinthebakery Suggesting to another community member that this game might not be for them just because they suggest the addition of content that goes against what YOU think will be in the game is about as stupid and insulting as it comes. Everything I suggested, or believe to be in the game, are things Rare themselves have suggested or said would be in the game. I didn't just come up with some crazy ideas one day and think to myself "I'll force my ideas on this gaming community!"

Entertainment

Can you tell us more about the in-game progression? I’d imagine you start with a small ship and work from there.
"You can imagine yourself as a penniless pirate dressed in rags and you want to become a pirate legend in fine clothing and awesome weaponry and cool equipment with the best ship. We have a progression system."

Including ship customisation?
"Yes."

With missions and objectives to earn in-game currency to buy all of it?
"Yeah. You get treasure and you want the loot, you’ll want to spend it. Personal progressions are around you and also on weapons and objects that you can carry. Everyone wants to own a ship or ships and make it look like they want it to look cool. These customizations aren’t just aesthetics but functional too. So a larger sail that looks cool will also makes your ship move quicker too."

David Jenkins  /  Sep 5, 2016  /  Entertainment

Sea Of Thieves Rare preview and interview – a pirate's life for you

GameCentral speak to Rare about their big comeback, and the dangers of promoting an ambitious new game in a post-No Man’s Sky world.

But is that the sort of thing that’s going to be in the game straight away or in two years’ time?
"And it’s that core loop of then being able to earn that treasure and take it back to port and bank it. Those are the core kind of elements for me, but there are also rewards for exploration. Or things for players to do as they explore that world. Because at the moment you just can amble around here but there’s not much there. There’s not any resources to gather, there’s no wood to chop down…"

Joe Skrebels  /  Oct 3, 2016  /  Feature

Sea of Thieves: What the Hell Actually Is This Game? - IGN

Answering the "yeah, it looks cool, but what do you actually do?" question in 14 separate answers.

Chapman doesn’t get into the specifics of this all too much, but makes mention of NPC-manned ports with ship merchants and quest givers, as well as islands peppered with buried treasure and stalked by skeletons or the like. He also mentions “safe zone outposts” - presumably those ports will make up some or all of these - where players will be able to wield swords and show off their in-game wealth, but seemingly not be able to go full PvP on strangers’ booties or booty (I promise this is the only time I’ll make that joke).

Is there customisation?
Oh, yes. In the course of the presentation, Chapman mentions (ahem):

• Different classes of ship

• Character clothing made out of vanquished enemies (for instance, a Kraken tooth hat)

• Character augmentations (e.g. hooks for hands, a peg leg made of an old blunderbuss)

• Ship upgrades (cannon types, reinforced hulls or upgraded paddles)

• Figureheads

• Sail designs

• Captain’s cabin designs

• Ship colour (Black Pearl ahooooy)

Mar 27, 2018  /  articles

EXCLUSIVE: Rare Reveals All Its Ambitious Plans For ‘Sea Of Thieves’

We sat down with legendary game developer, Rare, to find out what players can expect from its mysterious new Xbox One exclusive, Sea Of Thieves.

Despite offering players a bit of variety, we ask whether that’s really a true role-playing experience. Chapman pauses and thinks for a moment, before revealing what he really wants to bring to the game:

“We’re working on the idea of players being able to become a bounty hunter.”

https://gamerant.com/sea-of-thieves-e3-2016-preview/

"Additionally, there will be missions that can be secured and completed for treasure, which can then be spent on upgrading a player’s boat. According to Rare, this will be the meat of the game, as players continuously search for treasure and make their own legendary tales for others to talk about amongst one another. Whether taking down a beastly kraken, sinking an armada of ships, or teaming up to recover buried treasure, there will be much more to do than lob cannon balls at passersby. While that will hold true in the final product, it’s not something that was made playable to the masses during E3."

My point is Rare has created this idea that there's so much more to their game from the very beginning, but we've seen so little of it. And all I am asking is that they hold up their end of the deal and provide us with the content they themselves have said will be part of the this title. If that warrants me being told that this game isn't for me, then I find myself being extremely confused.